The last Wednesday in November heralds the culmination of a short but sweet season for the Navy, Army and RAF u23s. The u23s Inter Services is finely poised with all sorts of permutations on how the championship can be won. To keep it simple, to start with the RAF and the RN have won a match. Both the RAF and the Army have lost a fixture and so if the RN win, they win outright. For another team to be crowned it comes down to maths! But more on that later…
"I think we had to make a statement after last year, we knew it wasn't a good year for us," said Navy u23s captain ET Dom Cleverley. On the back of a combined points difference of 37, it is easy to see where he is coming from....
Nothing beats joining a new team. On top of that, imagine pulling on a Navy Rugby shirt for the first time. Four players did so against Portsmouth RFC on Thu at HMS Collingwood as the home of Royal Navy Rugby, Burnaby Road was unavailable. So, a hearty congratulations and welcome onboard to Lauren Watson, Mia Edson, Evi Horne and Cerys Wright.
It’s all about the BZs at the moment, as a further three players returned for their second match. Daisy Lumsden, Olivia Buitanaseva and Katie Baines showed significant progress between the Devonport Services game and this match. They came into the game much more confident and picked up from where they left off.
Seven Senior players brou...
Navy Rugby u23s turned over the RAF at Havant RFC with a dominant second half display. Trailing at half-time they soon discovered their rhythm and have become realistic Inter Services champions in waiting.
As a good size crowd enjoyed the music of the Band Service of the Royal Marines, the stand at Fraser Road began to fill. To the backdrop of Hearts of Oak, the players from both sides tested the fast surface of Havant’s artificial pitch. The RN, having played on the DESSO pitch at Sandy Park, would have the rub of the green as the RAF had had to cope with the torrential and heavy conditions at Aldershot.
The RAF kick off went dead allowing the Navy an opportunity to see wher...
Wednesday marks the start of the Inter Services for the Royal Navy Under 23s. The meteorologists are predicting 87% chance of rain, but the match won’t be the slogfest that the RAF and the Army had to endure due to the quality of the 4G pitch that Havant RFC have kindly put at the players’ disposal. Having squeezed out the Army by a point shows that the RAF are strong in poor conditions but let’s see how they will cope on a lightning-fast surface. On the back of a crushing loss last year, falling to a 31 – 15 score line at Whitney RFC, the boys in blue are ready to make amends.
The TSG are always keen to challenge their squad with a tough fixture list and any t...
On a warm sunny late afternoon in Tunis at the Terrains de Rugby Stadium, a match between the Tunisian RFU u20 team and HMS Albion RFC took place on Remembrance Sunday, 2022. A good crowd of over 250 spectators from HMS Albion and local supporters were there to witness both teams line up and sing the national anthems. On completion, a minutes silence was observed for the fallen. Tunisia won the Toss and chose strategically to play with the setting sun at their backs.
A clean take from kick off by Tunisia set them up to try and drive the ball out of their half but defensive work by Ton Hind, Dean Seals meant that the Carthage Eagles had to clear for touch. Tunisia stole the Albion line...
